§ 27. Mr. Robert Cookeasked the Postmaster-General what is the percentage rate of failure of long-distance telephone calls via subscriber trunk dialling and through manual exchanges, respectively; and what was the rate of failure via manual exchanges before the introduction of subscriber trunk dialling.
Mr. ShortA total of 65 per cent. of subscriber trunk dialled calls gets through first time. Of the remainder, 5 per cent. fail, owing to defective functioning of Post Office plant, and the balance of 30 per cent. fail because the caller makes dialling 1006 errors, receives engaged tone or gets no reply from the number he is calling.
A direct comparison between the service given by subscriber trunk dialling and via the operator cannot be made. As the reasons for this are somewhat complex, I am writing to the hon. Gentleman to explain them.
§ Mr. CookeThe House will require far more information than the right hon. Gentleman has given. Will he please look at this matter most carefully because the general impression that the public have is that the service is pretty poor?
Mr. ShortThis is not the general impression. The service is first-rate. It is becoming fashionable to throw bricks at the Post Office. So long as I am Postmaster-General I will accept valid criticism, but this is not valid criticism.
§ Mr. BryanWill the Postmaster-General tell us whether his figures tally with the figures of the Consumer Association Magazine "Which?" in which it says that one in ten of all calls is not successful?
Mr. ShortI cannot recall the figures at the moment so I cannot discuss them with the hon. Gentleman, but the overall picture of the "Which?" investigation was quite favourable to the telephone service.